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Pictured is a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on November 21st, 2010. The image is a 20 second exposure taken at dusk, shot from about 100 miles west of the launch site. The launch placed a classified payload in orbit for the United States Air Force.
Difficult but not impossible to catch against the dawn or dusk sky, spotting an extreme crescent moon can be a challenge. The slender crescent pictured was shot 30 minutes before sunrise when the Moon was less than 20 hours away from New. A true feat of visual athletics to catch, a good pair of binoculars or a well aimed wide field telescopic view can help with the hunt.
The Sun is our nearest star, and goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. This image was taken via a properly filtered telescope, and shows the Sun as it appeared during its last maximum peak in 2003. This was during solar cycle #23, a period during which the Sun hurled several large flares Earthward. The next solar cycle is due to peak around 2013-14.
Located in the belt of the constellation Orion, Messier 42, also known as the Orion Nebula is one of the finest deep sky objects in the northern hemisphere sky. Just visible as a faint smudge to the naked eye on a clear dark night, the Orion Nebula is a sure star party favorite, as it shows tendrils of gas contrasted with bright stars. M42 is a large stellar nursery, a star forming region about 1,000 light years distant.
Orbiting the planet in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) every 90 minutes, many people fail to realize that you can see the International Space Station (ISS) from most of the planet on a near-weekly basis. In fact, the ISS has been known to make up to four visible passes over the same location in one night. The image pictured is from the Fourth of July, 2011 and is a 20 second exposure of a bright ISS pass.
Next to the Sun, the two brightest objects in the sky are the Moon and the planet Venus. In fact, when Venus is favorably placed next to the Moon, it might just be possible to spot the two in the daytime. Another intriguing effect known as earthshine or ashen light is also seen in the image on the night side of the Moon; this is caused by sunlight reflected back off of the Earth towards our only satellite.
A mosaic of three images taken during the total lunar eclipse of December 21st, 2010. The eclipse occurred the same day as the winter solstice. The curve and size of the Earth’s shadow is apparent in the image.
The Algonquin Indians had names for each of the seasonal Full Moons, many of which survive today. The Full Snow Moon pictured occurs in the month of December, when the first large winter storms coat the ground with snow. This Full Moon also tends to fall near the Winter Solstice, and thus rides high in the nightly sky opposite to the Sun on long winter nights.
Every rocket launch is unique, but twilight shuttle launches where by far the most impressive. The image pictured was of the April 5th, 2010 launch of Space Shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center at dawn. The exhaust plume caught the rising Sun overhead just right, and numerous noctilucent clouds persisted right up until sunrise. Unfortunately, space shuttle launches are now relegated to the pages of history.
Astro-Event: The Red Planet Meets the “Anti-Mars.”
All hail the “Anti-Mars!”
No less than two astro-events mark the passage of Astronomy Day on October 20th, a day so cool, we repeat it twice! The other Astronomy Day on the calendar for 2012 was on April 28th. (Hey, the sky changes, y’know?)
First up, the planet Mars meets the bright star Antares (a.k.a. Alpha Scorpii), passing just over 3° degrees to its north on the 20th. Mars has added an appreciably different look to the constellation since passing into Scorpius and sliding by Delta Scorpii on October 10th. Coincidentally, now is a good time to compare Mars and its astronomical antithesis. The name “Antares” Means “The Rival of Mars” in Greek (that’s straight outta Burnham’s) a nod to the ruddy star’s Mars-like appearance. The fact that Scorpius hangs on the dusty southern horizon for northern hemisphere observers no doubt adds to this effect. Antares is the only other M-Type supergiant star in the 1st magnitude range (the other being Betelgeuse) and is one of four 1st magnitude stars close enough to the ecliptic to encounter the Moon & classical planets. (The other three being Aldebaran, Regulus and Spica. In fact, we caught the nearly Full Moon in the act of occulting Antares here from Astroguyz HQ back in 2009!
The view on October 20th. (Created by the Author using Starry Night).
Antares shines at an apparent magnitude of +1.1, and has a B-V color index (a good gauge of ‘redness’) of +1.8. For contrast, last week’s featured carbon star TX Piscium had a B-V index of +2.6. Aim a telescope at Antares and crank up the magnification and you just might tease out its +5.5 magnitude companion about 3” arc seconds away.
Mars shines at magnitude +1.4 this week, but that’s where the similarities end. Mars displays a 4.7” arc second disk and is currently just under 17 light minutes distant, while Antares is 550 light years away. Check out the pairing low in the dusk this week… which one looks ‘redder’ to you? Would the “real Ares” please stand up?
The Orionid meteor shower also peaks on the morning of October 20th. This shower typically falls in the 15-30 range in regards to its Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR), but recent outbursts in the 2006-2009 seasons saw this shower on the upswing, reaching a ZHR as strong as 70. The source of this shower is no other than that most famous of comets, 1P/Haley. In fact, Halley’s Comet has been identified as the progenitor of two annual showers, the other being the Eta Aquarids in early May. This year is also particularly favorable for the Orionids, as the Moon will be a 5-day old waxing crescent and well out of the morning sky.
And speaking of the Moon, the slender crescent Moon will sit very near the planet Mercury low in the dusk on the evening of October 16th. In fact, the Moon will actually occult -0.2 magnitude Mercury for a very few Earthly residents in and around Nome, Alaska. The Moon is 38 hours old (New phase occurs at 12:02UT on October 15th), and US East Coast residents will have a chance to catch the pair three hours prior at 35 hours past New immediately after sunset on the evening of the 16th, a great astrophotography challenge leading into Astronomy Day!